Metaverse in Education: a Bibliometric Study

Abstract

The term “metaverse” first appeared in Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash in which he defined it as a virtual environment shared over the Internet. Since the publication of that work, technological advances have allowed the creation of several metaverses for popular use—virtual world platforms such as Second Life, IMVU, VRchat, Sansar, Roblox, The Sims and Active Worlds, in addition to venturing into other fields such as education, for example, in which its use is prioritized to develop learning environments that allow students to function safely. and personalized in parallel realities. Through a bibliometric analysis of 130 documents, this article aims to review studies on the metaverse and its inclusion in education. The findings include a summary of the most important scientific articles and journals in the subject area, as well as the most prolific and prominent authors, organizations and nations. Additionally, a keyword co-occurrence analysis was made that helps reveal the main research clusters and their subtopics. The study offers a comprehensive overview of the expected impacts of the metaverse on education. © 2023 Copyright for this paper by its authors.